Conceptual Framework for Selecting Industrial Internet of Things Platforms

In the competitive landscape of digital platforms, users need to carefully analyze and compare their options. With the proliferation of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies, various Platform-as-a-Service solutions have emerged around the world, each with their own characteristics and functionalities. Analyzing and comparing these digital platforms requires a consideration of their capabilities as well as identifying advantages and disadvantages with regard to the specific user objectives. Several criteria must be taken into account when analyzing these platforms, including data management, application functions and runtimes. The search for a suitable platform requires a detailed understanding of the various factors, and presents users with a complex decision-making task in today’s digital age. In the context of Industrial Internet of Things application systems, this paper examines quantitative criteria that include the categories 1) general, 2) infrastructure, 3) industrial applications, 4) open environment, and 5) software specifications for various digital platforms, with the aim of providing a conceptual framework for supporting the methodological and systematical platform selection. With the conceptual framework tool constructed, this article demonstrates the digital platform selection from the set of popular platform products, namely Amazon Web Services IoT, Microsoft Azure IoT, IBM Cloud, and Siemens Xcelerator.